I'm going back and forth between two different used rack-mountable bass heads:

-SWR WorkingPro 400 - $364.99 (w/o rack mount)
http://bass-guitars.musiciansfriend.com/pr...ngPro-400-Bass-Amplifier?sku=481991


-Hartke HA3500 - $399.00 (already mounted)
http://www.worldmusicsupply.com/Hartke-HA3...0-350-Watt-Bass-Amplifier-Head.html




I already have a 4x10 Hartke and I may pick up a 2x10 Carvin next week or find a 1x15.
My bass rig will be used for everything from Stoner Rock - Doom - Thrash - Black Metal.

It seems as though I would get more tonal range from the Hartke; that's what I'm leaning towards at the moment.

Does anyone have experience with one or both of these bass heads?

Whatcha think?

I can only say that I haven't ever heard an SWR I could recommend. Couldn't tell you much about that Hartke.

My vote's for the Hartke, I play out of the VX3500 which is pretty much what you'd be getting out of that combination, and it covers a lot of tonal ground.

SANSAMP OR TERRORIST

Ampeg or GTFO.

Sunn = instant hipster pussy

no shit. Get the rackmount SVT with the graphic EQ and you'll be set

This. I run the harke 3500 with a sansamp in front of it and it does the job pretty well. Good tonal shaping between the graphic EQ and low/high freq knobs. It probably doesn't hurt powerwise that I put it through 2 cabs that handle 1000 watts each.

I used to use an older workingman's 4004 and I definitely enjoyed it, but I think I'd still take the hartke.

Crate of course.

i wish my svt wasn't giving me tube depression.... other wise i'd offer up my b2r to you for a little less than that.
neither one is incredibly different from the other between these two.
if you want it already mounted then obviously the hartke is a good choice, but you could get a better rackmount system than that. better and tons lighter. you don't have flexibility of adding much stuff to it either, and if you ever wanted to get a bigger case, you'd always end uphaving that hartke case around taking up space in your jam spot... no one would take it from you unless you gave it away... in my experience anyways. that's how i ended up with a little genz benz rack mount.
i've never blown up swr gear. have popped some hartke stuff. mostly cabs though
if you really want to make a difference with your sound with either of these heads, get a sick cab. something with at least an 18 to go along with 4x10
2x15s are pretty easy to get, and cheap because it's usually old peavey, which wont die either. 4x10 and 1x18 would be sick. if you check craigslist right now, there's been a guy selling an old marshall 1x18 for pretty short money. it doesn't look like a marshall any more, but i bet it pumps.

thanks for the full comparison, t2daeek. I know of at least 2 people I've
found on CL that have 2x15's for sale and 1 other that has a 1x18. I'll
search for that Marshall, though, ASAP.


say i snag the Hartke head, run it thru my 4x10 AND another cab
(whatever larger speaker size), would it stand up against a full band, or,
at least a full drum set, growling vocalist, and guitarist with a half stack?
...or would I absolutely need to add something to the rig?

This bass is wicked metal!! Just caught it at 11:30 today. 5.7 pounda khed!!!

"Sorry, Forbidden.
You don't have permission to access this URL on this server"

pic fail?

*back to the Marshall 1x18: i cant find it, any help?

Just me and my 5 and a half pounder.

I've played the SWR's, and couldn't say they have a head I would ever recommend. They have a few ballsy cabs, but even then there are much better cabs. For an extra hundred bucks you could probably find a used Ampeg SVT3PRO that would sound the balls. Put a sansamp through that shit and you'll never want another rig, ever.

Aaron should probably just rig a word filter so that "SANSAMP INTO SVT OR NOPE" pops up whenever "bass rig" appears in a post.

that listing is down... dunno. i doubt it sold... i've been tricked into checking the listing several times over months.
as far as "standing up to"... it will certainly make racket through a 4x10. don't have super lofty ideas of really hearing clarity when you crank it up to 11 or try to cut through the mix when you're playing with a couple guitarists with tube powered half/full stacks..... but i played for years through a 4x10 and it will definitely be enough for most applications, definitely enough when you are working with a full PA.

and btw, i respect most peoples opinions about the sans amp. especially blue's because he sounds great whenever i hear him play bass. but, i venture a blame towards his cabs for the great sound... (blue, try my buddah next time smashers play with sexcrement and then we'll smoke buddah, and discuss differences over more buddah)
i have a sans amp and i use it when i cant use an amp, but only in that case. the sans amp is useful but easily way over priced considering that you can get a way better overdrive and a way better DI in two separate boxes for like 50 bucks less.
most bass heads that are worth half their weight in dog shit have a better DI already built in. DIs are for lazy sound guys anyways. Get a mic on that cab or the sound you hear on stage isn't what you have in the PA.

and btw, i respect most peoples opinions about the sans amp. especially blue's because he sounds great whenever i hear him play bass. but, i venture a blame towards his cabs for the great sound... (blue, try my buddah next time smashers play with sexcrement and then we'll smoke buddah, and discuss differences over more buddah)
i have a sans amp and i use it when i cant use an amp, but only in that case. the sans amp is useful but easily way over priced considering that you can get a way better overdrive and a way better DI in two separate boxes for like 50 bucks less.
most bass heads that are worth half their weight in dog shit have a better DI already built in. DIs are for lazy sound guys anyways. Get a mic on that cab or the sound you hear on stage isn't what you have in the PA.

hmm how the f did i double post? derp.

I don't use a sansamp either, although my sound is a bit different than the norm i think

back when I played the four string motherfucker, I put tape over the DI and told soundguys it was broken just so they would have to use a mic. Then they would try to take a line out of my bass>fuzz wah>rat>delay setup. Stupid, how come most soundguys are dumb?

SWR has no headroom. don't do it.

i've never heard a hartke i like. i've never heard Blue's bass sound so i can't comment on that.

just make sure when your running two cabs that they have matched impedance and that whatever head you get can also match the impedance.

i've always been partial to GK or Mesa for rackmount bass gear. GK is affordable and gets some of the best distortion sound i've heard on bass. plus they're loud as fuck.

this is just about the smartest thing I've ever read on the forum.

hats off to you. hate that DI shit.

the short answer is, because the lower bass frequencies are very difficult to properly capture with a mic, any mic, especially live. the thing dipshit soundguys do wrong isn't to use a di necessarily, but to use it for the entire frequency range of the bass. that's where the infamous obnoxious metallic clang comes from. the right way to do it, is to use a mic to get the bassist's tone, and augment the low end via di box.
if the club doesn't have a couple of massive bass bins in the floor, there's nothing useful that could be done with the di anyway.

I have a GK. But yeah, Ampeg SVT. or fuckit, play through a Marshall.

just stay away from SWR's, they are about as reliable as Behringers

The last time I saw Architect the bassist used a Peavey XXX, had a narly distortion tone perfect for the style, but I wouldn't recommend it for any other style.

Sunn is hipster as fuck right now, but you can get some good solid state bass setups for cheap.


I'd go the Ampeg route though.

I've looked into some GK's, but, havent done nearly enough research; what used GK heads are out there that are worth buying?

also, holy fuck!...?? SWR as bad as Behringer???.. I've had a full Behringer rig before and will NEVER go back to that brand...

There seems to be a decent used selection of Ampeg SVT heads (since I've trolled the fuck outta CL and local music stores), so, I'll have to see how they stack up.

I assume he used this guitar head with a bass cab or 2? Do you remember what kind of cabs he had, at least, what speaker config? 4x10 w/1x15?

He was going through my buddies ampeg 8x10 (svt classic). After the first date of the tour my buddy said no more hahaha, so he used whatever cab he could.

so, the guitar head + whatever bass cab thing still worked???
ino thats how Lemmy does, right?.. So, maybe I too could pull it off w/o buying more gear... hm...

It all depends on the sound you're going for.

the sound I'm currently going for is the "I don't have enough $$$$ until I sell a good chunk of 6 electric guitars & 1 acoustic to buy a decent bass head, SO, I want to find a halfway decent stand-in until I snag the right bass gear".

How about that?

Basically, I don't care if the tone is dirty/somewhat overdriven/etc, I just dont wanna sound ultra-flat/muddy as allllll hell, ya know?

Stick with what you got and buy an overdrive then.

meh, i just looked it up: you can def play bass thru a guitar amp then bass cabs. all ya gotta triple check is matching ohms and max watt ratings, blah blah blah = I'M SAFE!